Review of Wild Wild Racing

I was thrilled when we received this game at the office and I grabbed it before one of guys could get their grabby fingers on it. It was the first driving game for the PS2 that I could get my hands on and I was excited. I love driving games and I couldnt wait to take it for a spin, it looked like childs play. Boy, I was in for a surprise.

I started with the single race to get the feel for the game first. Its pretty cool, to start off with, you can choose the weather conditions, time of day, and the course. In the early stages of the game there are 3 cars to choose from.

Start your engines, the countdown begins, then take off…. I was cruising along then boom.. slid right into a guard rail. It crept right up on me, I swear. When you hit the rail, the car stops dead and everyone else dissapears into the distance. This is no way to set a record or impress your friends. So I remembered what a wise man told me earlier that day, learn how to use your hand brake, and you will prosper. He was right, this helped. When slagging through sharp turns I was able to maintain more control and slow down in a hurry. It also helped when unexpected objects popped up like a backhoe or a road block with cops…..yikes! Some of the controller maneuvers you will need to get a feel for are the vehicles reverse, accelerate, up/down shift, brake and hand break functions, and yes, you will need to learn to do some of these things SIMULTANEOUSLY..!

The cars are just screaming Ride Me Hard Big Boy. Imagine a roadster armed with plenty of muscle with a supped up bod, Yeeeehaw! As you get deeper into game-play you will find there are nine cars plus two bonus vehicles. There are also upgrades available after winning races. Another slick feature I thought was the fact that the cars actually react depending on the present road conditions like dirt, gravel, ice, and mud, look out…slippery when wet.

Racing can take part in 5 racing worlds. USA, Mexico, Iceland, India, and Australia,. mate! There are loads of race circuits to concur with different difficulty levels such as beginner, Amateur and Pro. Memorizing the course is not a bad idea either as they are pretty lengthy and loaded with obstacles (like riding thru a construction site, racing in drainage ditches and hey, why the hell would someone put a tree in the middle of the damn course…to jack you up obviously!). There are also tons of shortcuts that you really have to keep your eyes open for.

There are 4 modes, Championship, Single, Time Attack, and Challenge. I mentioned single race mode in the beginning so I will talk about the Challenge mode since it seems to be the most rewarding, as you can win new cars, upgrades and trophies here. The catch is there are 3 tasks you need to accomplish in this mode: like collecting letters that spell out the name of a car or pushing a ball across the finish line, this sounds easy but it took a few tries and a few swearing fits before I accomplished that task. All the challenge games have time limits that will win you the gold, silver or bronze trophies. Time Attack mode is split into 3 types of races: uphill, downhill, and point to point. Dont forget to look for shortcuts in the different courses, this will almost always guarantee you a win.

Finally there is the Championship mode. Here you race against 4 computer controls maniacs in an effort to be the big Kahuna. The number of races and laps vary depending on the skill level. Races are tallied on a point basis…so you dont have to finish first in every race to win the overall championship. You can also use the cars you unlocked in the Challenge mode to help make things a bit easier.

You should know that while I found this game to be very entertaining it is also VERY frustrating at times. I cannot tell you how many times I was in the lead only to lose the race because I slid into a guardrail or some other object conveniently located in my way and was stopped dead in my tracks. In order to win, especially in the later races you will need to be almost flawless throughout the course.

The graphics in WWR were quite sweet with stuff like picturesque mountain sceneries, which looked simply awesome. Objects were very detailed with cool textures and polys; you could even see the individual treads on the tires and parts moving about on the engines. Great animation and particle effects too with the cars having smoke coming out of their tail pipes, sand and gravel kicking up while your cruising, etc. There is also a very good draw distance with minimal pop-up. On the downside though, the trees and sideline spectators when viewed up close looked more like cardboard cutouts than the real thing.

The vehicles sound effects were decent. The screeching and burning rubber sounds when peeling out is definitely a highlight. I could have done without the announcer saying checkpoint every couple of seconds though. This was a little annoying at times. The music features a nice rocking soundtrack that I actually enjoyed and found it to fit in nicely with the wild on screen action.

OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Wild Wild Racing' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.

"In my opinion, Wild Wild Racing lives up to its title. The game-play is fully loaded with a nice selection of options. I had a hard time putting the controller down, Its truly an addicting game.

What makes it so attractive is the fact that It is not as repetitive as some other racing titles and the courses are pretty deep. If your looking for a cool off the road racing game this is your ticket."

Score Breakdown:

Graphics 13/20Playability 40/50Sound 7/10Lastability 17/20

Our Recommendation:

This is a good solid title that should still appeal to those who like this type of game.